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Florida Atlantic will have tough time matching last season’s 4-8 record

Florida Atlantic is a 34-point underdog to Florida in Saturday’s season opener and the game probably will not be that close, not when the Owls are going to struggle to score points … against everybody.

The guess here is FAU comes out of its first three games (Florida, Michigan State, Auburn) with no more than three offensive touchdowns. Total.
Still, this should be an experience they won’t forget.

“That was part of the reason why they came here,” Howard Schnellenberger said about playing games in The Swamp, at Spartan Stadium and at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“This is a chance to beat somebody who is ranked,” linebacker David Hinds said. “We don’t have anybody ranked in our conference. To play schools like Florida, Auburn and Michigan State, it’s a chance to prove ourselves and also kill all the naysayers.”

Now that would be a lot of body bags.

Speaking of naysayers. … Sun Belt coaches picked the Owls to finish last. Sports Illustrated predicts they will win one game. Most believe matching last season’s 4-8 record will be a success.

I am in the middle. I can’t see FAU’s only victory being the stadium unveiling against Western Kentucky. But it’s difficult to find four wins.

I say 3-9, four if everything goes right but two if the season completely unravels.

Here’s how it will go: The only gimme right now is Western Kentucky. Other possible victories: at Louisiana-Lafayette, at North Texas, Arkansas State and the season finale against Louisiana-Monroe, but only because the emotion will be high as the program says goodbye to Schnellenberger.

The guess is they will have three wins entering the season finale, then it depends on how much this team wants to give Schnellenberger the send off he deserves.